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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23095471">A Lucky Shot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight'>DawnsEternalLight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bonding, Canon-Typical Violence, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Batman, Fluff, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, No editing we die like mne, Sibling Bonding, Stabbing, patrol injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:42:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23095471</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick hadn't been paying attention, and when Batman's not keeping an eye on his Robin, sometimes Robin gets hurt.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>239</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Tales from the Cave</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Lucky Shot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Batfam Week 2020 Day 3: Injuries</p><p>I know it only has 2 members of the fam in it, and this is for Batfam week, but life has kept me from planning for this, let alone writing much so please enjoy my humblest of offerings of brothers figuring stuff out. It's set while Dick's Batman, somewhere in the middle of his time with Damian, and Damian's a little softer than he probably should be but I like to think they had some really good days where he let a lot of walls down early.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was times like this Dick really missed his escarma sticks. He’d considered adding them to Batman’s arsenal, but there were a number of reasons to keep them away, including knowing the change would shred whatever belief Gotham’s underbelly still had that he was the old Batman. He had enough trouble wrangling in the ones who’d caught onto the change quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, he missed them, and if he had them, he’d easily be able to catch the sword currently swinging down at him. As it was, he used the fins on the edge of his gauntlet to shove it away while ducking. He stepped back again out of the reach of the sword as the man arched it back towards him and scowled, maybe he’d been too quick in limiting Damian’s sword training. He’d have to loop it back in and figure out a solid defense against it.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of Damian, Dick glanced across the street to find his partner vaulting off the shoulders of a quickly toppling thug, feet angled out to blindside another with a kick. He seemed to be holding his own well enough, so Dick turned back to the man he was engaged with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’d been five guys they’d started out chasing. Robbers looking for a quick jewelry store heist, and picking a bad night to do it with the Dynamic Duo so close. They had taken out two already, leaving the two Damian was dealing with and Mr. Sword. Really Dick had no idea what this man was thinking, they were robbers not ninja, and they were most certainly not from the League, Damian had confirmed that quick enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He crouched and swept a leg out, knocking the man off his feet and finally sending the stupid sword spinning across the concrete. The rest of the fight was quick as Dick swooped in to land a knockout blow before his opponent could even collect his bearings enough to sit up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick stood and turned to help Damian, but found his partner leaning down to secure an unconscious man’s hands with a zip tie, next to him lay the other man, hands already bound. Dick allowed himself a grin before leaning down to do the same to the guy he’d just knocked out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not a moment after he leaned over a gunshot rang out, Dick spun, eyes catching on one of the first men they’d knocked out. He was pushed up on one hand with the other holding a gun out, and then over to where Damian had been standing, but was now crumpled on the ground, fallen over on the other goons. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Robin!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damian didn’t respond as Dick’s hand moved from the zip tie pocket to pull a batarang out of his belt. He flung it out, the end cutting into the man’s hand and eliciting a yell. It was all the guy had time to do before Dick was on him, steel toe catching his exposed gut to kick him up and out of reach of the gun. He kicked out again returning the guy to oblivion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Robin?” Dick called out again, already stepping towards him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head screamed at him to stop a and continue correcting the mistake of leaving any of these men loose and checking on his partner, but his heart was all about making sure his brother was alive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fi--” Damian’s response turned to a groan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was conscious at least, meaning Dick had time to finish up and make sure they weren’t surprised again. He bound the remaining men before bolting to Damian’s side. Dick’s heart was racing. In all the time they’d been out together so far, his brother had of course been injured, but never shot by something that had taken him down. With the way Damian liked to talk, Dick sometimes wondered if he really was as good as he liked to boast. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This moment proved all that wonder wrong. Damian hadn’t moved, or made another sound since his aborted attempt at claiming he was okay. One look told him the bullet had caught Damian in the thigh and gone clean through, but that didn’t explain why he was still down.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick was gentle as he turned Damian, heart pounding against his ears so loud he was surprised Damian hadn’t complained of the noise. His brother groaned, and released a pained hiss as Dick moved him. His face was pale and washed out, and one arm was wrapped around his middle. Red seeped through the green of his gloves. Dick wracked his brain for the memory of a second gunshot and came up empty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Status?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stabbed.” Damian spat, then added, “and shot, ugh.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A laugh burst out and Dick quickly snapped his mouth shut, but his brother was already glaring up at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is no laughing matter, Batman.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick was. He hadn’t meant to laugh, but there had been something so absurd about Damian’s response. And, Dick wouldn’t admit it out loud, but just hearing him talk had eased the tight vice of panic in his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He dug around in his belt for bandages, “I’m going to deal with your leg while you keep pressure on that stab wound and we’ll be heading home soon enough.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While he wrapped Damian’s leg, then pressed a bandage to the kid’s side he called Alfred and asked him to prep the bunker for their arrival. Damian had gone silent and sullen after his outburst, and Dick couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t want to chatter much if their situations were reversed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lifted Damian without argument from the boy, which set off a spark of worry, but Dick tamped it down. He was still conscious, if perpetually scowling, and that’s what was important. He could pass off a lack of claiming he could walk to the fact that they both knew he wasn’t walking anywhere on that leg for a while. It would do Damian no good to lie about it, and Dick liked to think they’d made it past him thinking he had to put on airs for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The worry that had eased in Dick’s chest clawed its way up again as he drove. Damian was too quiet, and after a few grumpy grunts of response to Dick’s chatter he stopped responding altogether. Dick had already been going faster than usual to get them home, and gunned it further the moment Damian’s head lolled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Over the months Dick had been working with Damian he’d had a number of moments where he thought he understood some of what Bruce had felt raising him. The experience of getting Damian back to the bunker, stitched closed, and stabilized was something Dick never wanted to go through again. It had felt like ages, his stomach sick, hands shaking like never before. He couldn’t imagine how often Bruce had felt like this, how much worse it had been when he’d carted Dick back from situations more dire than Damian’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was starting to understand why Bruce would disappear into the cowl and back out onto the streets, or stay just to beat a punching bag until it fell apart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of doing any of that, Dick planted himself at Damian’s bedside. Alfred had promised he’d wake soon and Dick wanted to be there for him. Wanted to see him wake up and hear his gruff rebuttal of any and all coddling. Dick wanted things to feel normal again instead of shattered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick reached out and ran his fingers through Damian’s hair, brushing strands back away from a face still a touch too pale. This wasn’t right. Damian was too fierce, too proud, and too bright to be stuck in this bed. Dick swallowed back another bark of laughter, Damian would be fine. He knew that, it was bad but not that bad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sucked in a breath and leaned his head back, he was rattled. A normal night had gone sour, and Dick had let it shake him. He caught a lock of Damian’s hair between his thumb and pointer finger, rubbing it, of course he was shaken. He’d let his brother get hurt, let him get shot. Worse than than, he’d somehow completely missed the stabbing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A part of him wanted to bundle Damian up now and never let him out on patrol again, no matter who’s fault it was. He wanted his brother safe. Protected. He could see why Bruce was so partial to benching Robins. He’d do it himself if he wasn’t sure it’d ruin every bit of progress he’d had with Damian. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked back down at his brother, releasing the lock of hair to brush it all back again. There was a little white scar resting right at the edge of Damian’s hairline. Dick let his thumb slip over it. Damian had been through so much more than a bad patrol, more than Dick had a feeling he’d ever know about. Protectiveness swirled in his chest again, but how did one protect someone from their past? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damian’s eyes squeezed, then fluttered open. Green blinked blearily up at him in confusion for a moment before he frowned. Dick resumed running his hand through Damian’s hair as a gentle note for him not to get up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey.” he smiled, “Feeling a bit better?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damian turned his head away from Dick, not quite untangling Dick’s fingers from his hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dames?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His earlier sullen mood and silence came back to Dick. He put the pieces together, Damian getting surprised by a bad guy, hurt, passing out, Dick should have seen the kid’s internal guilt trip coming a mile away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He moved his hand from Damian’s hair to tilt his face back in his direction. Dick raised an eyebrow at him, a silent prompt for more information. They should be beyond Damian thinking Dick was sending him home, but he knew his brother still liked to blame himself beyond what was due.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you feeling?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A dull throb in my leg.” Damian said, voice sour. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was not the answer Dick was looking for and they both knew it. He wasn’t going to let Damian wiggle out of talking about what was bothering him, especially not when he lectured him more often than not about using his words to avoid misunderstandings. Dick gave him a few seconds and at last his brother huffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tt. I was not paying attention to my surroundings. This is my fault.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stopped talking, hesitating a little longer. There was something else he wanted to say, but it seemed like Damian wasn’t sure he should. At last his eyes flit up to meet Dicks, “He could have shot </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick let go of his face and moved to take Damian’s hand and shook his head in disbelief. Of course his brother would think of things in that light. That his being distracted was putting Dick in danger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do know I’m Batman right? I could have taken that bullet.” Dick said, letting the corner of his mouth quirk up in a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damian rolled his eyes, “And I am Robin. It is my job to keep you safe.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hummed, Damian had him there, but they were in a checkmate because Batman’s job was also to keep Robin safe. Not that the kid was going to listen to him right then. It was a longstanding argument between them, one Dick knew, dated back to every Robin and his Batman. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I don’t blame you for anything that happened tonight.” he said, “And you shouldn’t blame yourself. We both let down our guards tonight. And you were hurt.” He squeezed Damian’s hand, “I should have noticed that sooner.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His brother shrugged, “It was a lucky hit, the blade slipped between a weak spot in my armor. I was going to tell you.” He searched Dick’s eyes as he said this, an earnestness about him that made Dick believe Damian would have announced the injury when he had a chance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It still wasn’t quite normal, and Dick couldn’t help but still wish he could hide Damian away, but the relentless need to do so wasn’t so strong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know,” he said, “That guy with the sword got me thinking, maybe we need to go back to doing some sword practice when you’re recovered. If Gotham’s goons are going to be out and about swinging those things, I’d like to get some defense practice in against someone who knows how to use one.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damian perked up at that, and pushed himself up a bit before Dick stopped him with another squeeze of his hand. He settled back against the pillows, eyes glittering, “It did take you far too long to disarm him.” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At least I didn’t get stabbed.” Dick teased, and ruffled Damian’s hair, making him squawk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Richard! Cease that at once, I told you the fool was lucky, nothing more.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dick hummed and leaned back, “Alright then, tell me how you would have disarmed Mr. Sword?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Damian started in on an animated description of how different the fight would have been for him, and what Dick should have done. His excitement washing away the last of the fear still sitting in Dick’s chest, and replacing it with warm affection. </span>
</p>
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